Maybe You're Not a Master Chef, but Close Enough
No matter what life is currently throwing at you, everyone can benefit from spending less time sweating and worrying in the kitchen. Make food prep, cooking and cleaning up a breeze with these awesome kitchen finds.
Whether you're looking for convenience, eco-friendliness or cost savings, you’re sure to find the perfect match for your kitchen-related needs. And they can all be found on Amazon!
Electric Jar Opener
If you prefer exercise after work, the last thing you want to do is wrestle with a jar of roasted red peppers for dinner. Grab a handy electric jar opener, like this one from Hamilton Beach, to tackle the task.
Forget all the tips and tricks you’ve learned over the years (hitting the lid with a spoon, running it under hot water, using pot holders, etc.) that are almost always hit or miss depending on the jar. With the simple push of a button or two, you’re well on your way to the next step in your recipe.
Hanging Trash Bag
It may sound super simple and unnecessary considering we all have trash bins in the kitchen, a hanging trash bag can significantly help with cleanup and prepping. Just move the holder — something like this one from Lunies — to the pantry nearest to where you’re slicing and dicing so you can discard the scraps right then and there.
This is particularly helpful when cutting foods that tend to stink up your kitchen (think fish, chicken, onion, etc.), and as a bonus you can re-use those shopping bags that tend to collect after big shopping trips.
Electric Food Chopper
For some people, chopping food is a form of therapy. For the rest of us, it’s one more dreaded step in the cooking process. But no matter how you look at it, an electric food chopper is an awesome treat — especially when you’re running low on time or energy. I like this mini food processor from Cuisinart because it’s small enough to either leave on your counter or store away.
It’s ideal for those hard to chop up herbs, spicy peppers and eye-watering onions that you don’t want on your hands.
Food Scale
With healthier lifestyles, comes healthier food decisions. For those looking to make the most out of their meal prep, a food scale is a must. Whether you’re looking to alter your portion sizes for weight loss or ensure you’re getting a good balance of foods, an easy-to-use electric food scale (much like this one from Ozeri) will do the trick.
Nearly all models on the market today have a “zero-out” feature that lets you use any plate or bowl to measure and it’ll tell you the weight of the food in pounds, ounces, milliliters and grams.
Vegetable Spiralizer
Whether you’re watching your carb intake or looking for a fun way to get your kids to eat their vegetables, a spiralizer is just what you’ve been looking for. Perfect for anything from sweet potatoes and cabbage to zucchini and carrots, a spiralizer makes dinner more fun and colorful.
Look for one with multiple attachments to ensure you have a variety to choose from, like this Spiralizer that comes with seven different blades and a suction cup on the bottom so it stays put.
Produce Saver Container
Nothing is worse than going to the store for your weekly shopping trip and your fresh produce going bad before you get a chance to use it. A produce saver container — like this one from Rubbermaid — will help regulate the oxygen and carbon dioxide to give your fruits and veggies the optimal environment for storage in the fridge.
Some users have reported that their produce has lasted not only days longer but even weeks, depending on the freshness when you buy and the type of produce.
Silicone Baking Sheet
Sometimes the best thing to do after a long day is to just pop some veggies and/or chicken in the oven for a bake while you work on prepping the side dishes or take a few minutes to relax. Make it even easier on yourself by grabbing some silicone baking sheets, which take the place of cooking sprays and aluminum foil.
This one from AmazonBasics comes in a two-pack so you always have one handy. These mats are significantly easier to clean than your baking sheet while still baking everything evenly. You won’t go through nearly as much aluminum foil or parchment paper, making these ideal for anyone who wants to go green.
Garlic Press & Peeler
While you can buy jars of minced garlic, nothing beats the real deal. Not only can you peel fresh garlic with this tool, you can mince it as well. Find one like this Orblue garlic press, which works great for garlic as well as ginger, shelled nuts and even key limes!
The simple, yet effective design will lessen your waste and shave valuable minutes off your prep time, leaving you more time to enjoy dinner with friends and family.
Avocado Slicer
Whether you’re making fresh guacamole, avocado toast or tacos, a tool like this 3-in-1 slicer from OXO is perfect for an avocado aficionado. Slit, pit and slice your avocado with one simple tool to make prepping a breeze. The blade is just sharp enough to cut through the skin, while the pitter requires a simple twist.
The slicer feature may not fit all avocados, but if you’re buying average sized ones you’re going to love this gadget.
Bottle Cleaning Beans
For active and on-the-go people, dirty portable bottles are the worst of the worst. Whether it’s a water bottle, protein shaker or even sippy cups, some shapes are just not meant for cleaning. That’s where a handy tool like this Beans-Shaped Cleaning Sponge comes in handy. Simply put the beans in your container, fill with warm water and some dish liquid, then shake!
No more hurting your knuckles trying to get your hands deep into the container — all it takes is a few shakes and you’re good to go.